OverOslo is a new festival to me, even if it has been going on for some ten years. It is located high at Grefsenkollen, a spectacular location with literally a view of all of Oslo. The only practical problem is getting up there, with only a quite narrow road winding up to the venue and no parking on site. But when you get there, it is definitely worth it.
Judith Owen is a singer songwriter from Wales, living in the USA. She started out in the 90’s, releasing her first album, in 1996. Since then she has released ten other albums, the latest, Somebody’s Child was released this year. Tonight she played in Oslo with her musicians. Continue reading
Bruce Springsteen seems to like playing in Norway, since he has been here a lot of time through his career. And the Norwegian people definitely loves him. All his concerts the last years have sold out in minutes or hours. This summer he has played one concert in Oslo in June, and then a concert in Trondheim two days ago and one in Oslo tonight, for a total of 100.000 fans. I saw the first three songs of his concert in Oslo tonight.
Gogol Bordello is one of the hardest working bands in New York. Their show is full of action and is always fun to watch. Tonight they played in Oslo, at the outdoor stage Sukkerbiten on a small peninsula behind the National Opera House by the seaside.
Bylarm is Norway’s answer to SXSW, and this year’s festival was number 19. The first years the festivals was arranged in different cities in Norway, Trondheim, Bergen, Tromsø and Kristiansand. In 2008 the festival was moved to Oslo, where it has been arranged at venues around Youngstorget since then. (Photo above: Kvelertak)
Ole Edvard Antonsen has been the leading classical trumpeter in Norway for many years. We have some other great trumpeters, too, but none as versatile as Antonsen. In 1992 he released Tour de Force after having released a CD with French classical trumpet concertos. Tour de Force was something totally different, it sold 150.000 copies and won him a Spellemannpris (Norwegian Grammy). Last night he played songs from Tour de Force and two following CDs live at the National Opera.
Saturday night in Oslo this weekend was filled with live music of all sorts. The Hollies played at Sentrum Scene, Folkelarm with lots of folk musicians was held at the National stage for folk music, Team Me played at Rockefeller, Krokofant at Victoria, and at Youngstorget the bar/club Bonanza celebrated their 5 year anniversary in a big tent with live acts from Thursday through Saturday. I saw two of the bands there and saw Team Me in between. (Picture above: Erlend Hjelvik from Kvelertak)
Jane’s Addiction have been on a tour for some time now, celebrating 25 years since they released the ground breaking CD Nothing’s Shocking. The tour started in May, and they have played several venues in the USA, O2 in London before they played the Parken festival in Bodø, Norway and last night they played in Oslo.
Saturday was the closing day of this year’s by:Larm. The festival, including the conference has been a success with lots of people visiting the venues and high quality booking and also seminars. The official numbers and evaluation isn’t done yet, but having attended all 17 by:Larms since it started in 1998, I feel safe to say that this must be one of the best. (Picture above: Deathcrush)
Friday night at by:Larm was different from Thursday in that there were less bands with a direct appeal to my taste, but on the other hand, I got to see bands I would have avoided in another setting. Two of the artists impressed me, but in diametrically opposite ways – Linkoban from Denmark and Kaja Gunnufsen from Norway. (Picture above: Linkoban)
Artist Pictures Blog 